GE week comes to U of T

Events during the week include a speaker panel and a student hackathon.

This week, the University of
Toronto will be hosting a series of events and workshops to celebrate the third
annual Global Engineering (GE) Week.

Global Engineering Week is a week-long initiative that
connects engineering students to industry experts, universities and NGOs
through a speaker series, events, and case studies in courses. The aim of the
initiative is to immerse students in some of the world’s toughest problems,
from climate change to health care.

Founder, and U of T Alumnus, of GE Week Malik Ismail hopes
that students will take a multidisciplinary approach when thinking about global
issues.

“We want to expose engineering students to solving
problems in non-traditional contexts, whether it’s solutions to a complex issue
in the developing world, or in Northern Canada. There are socioeconomic
implications, financial implications and unique circumstances based on your
local stakeholders—a well-rounded engineer, one who makes a positive
difference, would be mindful of all these aspects.”

This year, the universities of Waterloo, Concordia, and
Western have all adopted GE Week. “We’ve experienced three times the growth
since I started GE Week three years ago,” said Ismail. “This year, we’re
excited to have the opportunity to engage nearly 10,000 engineering students
across four universities through immersive and hands-on events.”

Events during the week include a speaker panel on the role
of artificial intelligence in global development, as well as a student
hackathon, Hack the Globe, which began on March 2nd and will continue until
March 17th.